Surprise Party

One of my very best friends is turning 30. Her name is Heather, she's wonderful, and she's also beautifully pregnant. I wanted her birthday to be special and to celebrate her, so I planned a little surprise party for her and just our close friends.

The party color theme was pink and gold, and everything from the decor to the food to the invitations coordinated. I held the party at a local art gallery, White Whale... it was the perfect setting for a night of girly fun!

The marvelous flowers were arranged by Annie, of course. Here's some of the food (recipes to come)... I used some vintage china, gold trays, and an antique gold mirror to display it.

Here's the gold pendant garland that Annie and I made, along with some large tissue poufs and a small pouf garland. The beverages played along with the color theme: IBC cream soda (gold), Pomegranate Izze (bright pink), and Sparkling Strawberry Punch (light pink).

See those expensive looking gold vases? I spent $4 at a thrift store, brought them home, cleaned them up, gave them a few coats of metallic gold spray paint, and voila!

 Here's my lovely co-host, Michelle. I couldn't have put this all together without her... she helped with the decorations, the food, and keeping me calm. She deserves her own party.

The wall you see above was our photo wall... I hired a photographer, Olivia Griffin, to come and do a photo shoot with us, and we used this area as the backdrop. Olivia is as sweet as she is talented, and I can't wait to see her images! I'll be sure to share them with you all.

Here's the guest of honor recovering from the surprise. We all shouted "surprise!" when she walked through the door, and she stood there looking blankly at us... "Surprise what?" she said. I reminded her that it was her birthday. "Oh yeah!"

Heather and her sister Kelly, playing around with the chalkboard.

Sad story here. You'll recall she is turning 30, not 3.

I ordered these gorgeous balloons off eBay weeks ago, and planned the entire party around them. How cute for decor, how sweet they'd look in photos... but it was not meant to be. I had the balloons filled at my local grocery store, an esteemed, high-quality business that shall remain nameless so that I don't get sued for libel. I got the balloons home just fine. I got them back in the car and to the party location just fine. I bring the 3 inside. I go to get the 0, and am walking up to the door, clutching tightly to the string when all of a sudden the balloon slips off the string and is gone before I realize it. I look up just in time to see it hit the power lines as the string softly falls to the ground. I stood there in disbelief. I wanted to cry but I didn't have time. I wanted to do terrible things to the girl at the grocery store who did not know how to tie a knot, but I didn't have time for that either and I didn't want to go to jail.

HOW HARD IS IT TO TIE A KNOT?????? Isn't this a basic life skill that people learn when they are toddlers???

I have dealt with this. It didn't ruin the party. (My mother tells me it probably happened because I was proud... and she is probably right... but it was an awesome party!)

The worst part was walking in, dragging the empty string, and seeing that 3 waiting so expectantly. I didn't have the heart to tell it what happened.

A good time was had by all.

Stay tuned for some killer recipes this week!